Chapter 76 Chapter 76 The Third Brother Decides to Seize the Throne

Xuan Jinyu didn't say anything, just rested her head on his chest.

"Madam has agreed." Su Guanzhang carefully moved the child to a different position and held her with his other hand. "Jinyu, are you willing to be with me for the rest of my life?"

"Do you also believe in the theory of past lives and present lives?" Xuan Jinyu asked casually, playing with his hand.

It's really strange. He is a man who never believed in this kind of thing.

He has always believed that man can conquer nature.

"Jinyu, I am willing to believe it because I want to be with you in every life, and have a happy marriage."

Xuan Jinyu's face suddenly flushed, and she muttered, "Who wants to spend eternity with you?"

And they were happily married! She still remembered how he had let go of everything before they fell off the cliff, as if he had entered a Buddhist monastery.

Except sometimes, of course.

Su Guanzhang looked down at her with a smile on her lips and eyes. He couldn't help but smile and touched her head.

She still looks better in this bright, lively and vibrant look.

"Then it's a deal," he said.

Xuan Jinyu didn't answer him and let him hold her tightly.

"I still can't leave the cave?" After hugging him for a while, Xuan Jinyu looked up and asked him.

The baby was already one month old, and she had been cooped up in this cave for a month, which was really boring.

Su Guanzhang kissed her eyes and said, "Wait another half month, ok?"

Although the lochia had been discharged, her energy and blood had not yet fully recovered, and he was really worried about letting her go out.

"Oh!" Xuan Jinyu grabbed his collar and responded with some disappointment.

Su Guanzhang felt a little soft-hearted, "How about I tell you a story?"

It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned it. As soon as she mentioned it, Xuan Jinyu remembered the time when she was pregnant with Lan Jie'er and couldn't sleep in the middle of the night. He told her about the case that made her sad.

"I'm not listening." She covered her ears and glared at him, "You are not allowed to say that."

Su Guanzhang was amused by her. He bent down and kissed her nose, then pulled her left hand down. "Are the stories I told really that unpleasant?" he asked.

Putting aside the nature of the case, he felt that he had done a pretty good job.

Xuan Jinyu lowered her right hand as well. "How can such a straightforward statement be so pleasant?"

As she spoke, she remembered something and said, "Leave telling stories to the child to me in the future." Xuan Jinyu finally found something that could accompany her child and reduce his burden.

Changing the baby's diapers, washing diapers, washing her and her mother's clothes, cooking... these chores are all his, and she should share a little bit of them.

Xuan Jinyu nodded, very satisfied with her own "virtue".

Su Guanzhang was speechless and didn't feel comfortable telling her that when she told the story of the female teacher just now, she had also told it in a straightforward manner without any sense of story.

But seeing her happy face, the gloom just now had completely dissipated, so he said nothing.

A baby one month later is very different from when he was just born.

When Lan Jie'er was just born, she spent the whole day eating and sleeping. Her little hands and feet were tightly wrapped in a small blanket and she hardly moved.

There is also very little interaction with my parents.

After she was one month old, she no longer needed to be wrapped tightly in a swaddle, and she no longer felt as insecure as when she was just born, and she would not cry anxiously.

When she lay next to Xuan Jinyu, she smelled the familiar scent of milk, and when she was hungry, she would stick out her pink little tongue and lick her lips.

If Xuan Jinyu was awake and saw her like this, she would feed her.

But if Xuan Jinyu fell asleep and no one noticed her little movements in time, she would turn her little head by herself and make sucking sounds with her little mouth.

Often Su Guanzhang would open the bamboo door in time and carry her to her mother.

Sister Lan, who had eaten and drunk her fill, was extremely quiet and was awake more often. She would stare into the void for half a quarter of an hour before yawning and continuing to sleep.

If Xuan Jinyu and Su Guanzhang talked to her or carried her around the cave, she would stare at her parents with her eyes open, and occasionally smile silently at them.

"Why are you so well-behaved!" Xuan Jinyu rubbed her little head.

She burned the letter the female teacher left for her yesterday, and the remaining ashes were all buried in the soil under her feet.

The fire that had always remained in her memory finally dissipated as the letter burned.

When she woke up in the morning, she said to Su Guanzhang, "I dreamed of the Master."

Su Guanzhang's arm around her shoulders froze, and then he heard her continue, "In my memory, the Master was frowning in pain from the burns, but she was smiling. But last night, she told me she wasn't in pain."

It was more like the phoenix rising from the ashes, she thought.

After listening to her, Su Guanzhang kissed her forehead and said, "It's all over."

The nightmares that had plagued her for nearly a decade should finally be gone.

At this moment, Xuan Jinyu watched her daughter smiling silently at her, her mouth wide open, revealing her pink and tender gums.

Her heart softened and she kissed her little face.

Lan Jie'er's head was supported by her, and her small body was exerting force as she leaned softly into her arms.

"Are you acting like a spoiled child towards your mother?" Xuan Jinyu hugged her tightly, her heart full of joy.

She finally understood why her mother never mentioned her third brother who died at birth for so many years; instead, she allowed Xuan Wensheng to take his place and become her second son.

Presumably, he couldn't bear to let him bear the reputation of "murder jinx" and "fellow brother", and he truly regarded him as his own son, so he cruelly buried the past in his memories.

Thinking of Lin Qingwan who was far away in Beijing, her eyes, which had been smiling just now, suddenly turned red.

After becoming a mother, she became more dependent on her mother, especially when she learned that her mother had suffered the pain of losing a son but had never shown it for so many years.

She felt sorry for Lin Qingwan.

Sister Lan in his arms heard the familiar footsteps and turned her head.

Xuan Jinyu didn't notice and was still immersed in her own thoughts.

Su Guanzhang took his daughter from her arms, looked down at her, and asked softly, "What are you thinking about?"

Xuan Jinyu came back to her senses and said, "I don't know when the letter I wrote to my mother yesterday will be delivered to her."

"Father said that after we fell off the cliff, all the eyes that had been following us for the past six months also withdrew." Su Guanzhang pretended not to notice her red eyes.

During the assassination that day, some of the people who had followed them joined the men in black to assassinate them, while some stood on their side to fight against the men in black.

There is also a small group of people who have been hiding in the dark and have not shown up.

However, as the men in black and those who assassinated them were all killed, that small group of people never showed up again.

Those who had helped them also said goodbye and left after the fight.

If they had ridden their horses day and night at full speed, they would have returned to the capital before the snow closed the mountains.

Su Guanzhang covered his daughter's eyes as she stared at his chin curiously, and finally couldn't help but lean over and kiss Xuan Jinyu's eyes that hid longing and loss.

"There's no one following us, and the secret guards have nothing to worry about. The letter will be delivered to my mother-in-law by next month at the latest," he said.

The distance from Huaizhao County to Shengjing City is over 3,000 li, and the road is mountainous and difficult to travel. During peak hours, it will take another day or two to travel.

But the horses of Dasheng could travel a hundred miles a day, and even if the road conditions were bad, they could still travel about three hundred miles a day. This way, the secret guards could reach Shengjing City in at most half a month.

The only concern is whether the heavy snow will affect travel.

The day before yesterday, when Bai Hu brought the meals over, they discovered that it had already started snowing outside the mountain, and the letter Su Sheng wrote to him also confirmed what they thought.

Huaizhao County is the last provincial capital in the south to have snow. The further north you go, the heavier the snow will be.

This year, the snow in Huaizhao County fell a month earlier than in previous years. I wonder if the snow in the north also came early.

In previous years, from October to February of the following year, the government often sent yamen runners to close mountains and roads during snowy weather to avoid casualties.

In the next few months, it will become increasingly difficult for them to communicate with Beijing.

However, the secret guards are well-trained and have superb martial arts and lightness skills, so they will not be unable to complete the mission due to mountain or road closures.

Su Guanzhang only went over these thoughts once in his mind, and quickly collected his thoughts, concentrating on comforting his wife who was obviously depressed.

When he bent down and kissed her, Xuan Jinyu subconsciously closed her eyes, allowing his light kiss to fall on her eyelids, and then move down to her lips.

Sister Lan's view was blocked by her father, and her little hand grabbed his thumb.

Su Guanzhang stood up straight and moved her hand away. She regained her vision, but still held her father's hand tightly.

"Our sister Lan inherited your divine power." He said with a smile, motioning Xuan Jinyu to look at the child in his arms.

Xuan Jinyu was skeptical and placed her left index finger on the palm of Lan Jie'er's other hand, which was soon firmly grasped by her.

It’s actually true.

"Good girl, let go of your mother." Her fingers were hurt by her daughter's grip. Such strength was not something an ordinary baby could have.

Seeing that her fingers were a little red, Su Guanzhang quickly lowered his head to look into his daughter's eyes and said in a gentle voice, "Sister Lan, please let go. It hurts mother."

As he spoke, he gently touched the back of Lan Jie'er's hand that was holding Xuan Jinyu's.

Lan Jie'er was attracted by her father's gentle gaze and voice. When he stroked the back of her hand, she involuntarily loosened the index finger that was tightly holding Xuan Jinyu.

Su Guanzhang kissed her forehead and said, "Good girl."

Sister Lan smiled at him silently.

After playing with the child for a while and feeding him again, she fell into a deep sleep again.

"Did Bai Falcon go to deliver the letter?" Xuan Jinyu straightened her loose undergarment and asked Su Guanzhang.

Su Guanzhang nodded, put his arm around her waist, and half-reclined on the pillows with her. "It's getting dark. Third Brother will probably let Bai Hun stay overnight. Tomorrow will be the last time he sends anything this month."

It is now mid-to-early November, and there is still more than half a month left until December. They need to cut off contact with the outside world for a short period of time.

Xuan Jinyu understood that the "third brother" he was referring to was Xuan Wensheng, not Su Guanwen, and just nodded.

It was not yet time to go to sleep, but as darkness fell, the sounds outside the cave gradually became less frequent.

After the moon comes out, you can only hear the occasional subtle sound of nocturnal birds flapping their wings and the occasional rustling sound of some animals passing through the grass and bushes.

The sound of wolves howling could be heard in the distance. Xuan Jinyu remembered the two frights she had experienced a few months ago and quickly shrank into Su Guanzhang's arms.

"Don't be afraid, the wolves are far away from us." Su Guanzhang hugged her and patted her slender back gently. "I put two bamboo doors at the entrance of the cave. They are very sturdy. No wild animals will get in."

Seeing that she was still a little stiff, he wrapped her in the quilt and kissed her face carefully and closely, from her forehead, to her eyelids, nose... and finally her lips.

Continuing on, the two people who had not been intimate for a long time were a little nostalgic for each other's body temperature.

Xuan Jinyu's body slowly relaxed under his gentle comfort.

"Third brother has decided to seize the throne." Su Guanzhang helped her put on her inner garment, touched her still slightly hot cheek, and suddenly said.